A Night for Nostalgia

This last Thursday I got to have the most wonderful evening. I had the privilege of going to see violinist Pinchas Zukerman in concert with the San Diego Symphony and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (from London). I had been looking forward to the evening since I bought tickets in October. Zukerman has been my most favorite violinist since I first started playing. There is just something special in the way he plays. The sweetness he can coax out of a violin is incomparable and he makes it look effortless to boot. He is so much fun to watch! The last time I saw him in concert was when I was nine. Mom and Dad had given me tickets on my ninth birthday to see him play with the Utah Symphony. So to put it simply, this was a really big deal to me! It made me really excited and nostalgic all at once, and I have to thank my sweet husband for going with me and patiently smiling at all the right times when a little flick of the hand or bow made me especially excited. We got all dressed up and to add to the nostalgic theme, I pulled out my Mom's beautiful Pendleton coat I hadn't brought myself to wear since her passing, and we headed to symphony hall. We had great seats where I could easily see everything he was doing and the balance was perfect. The concert was just amazing. Pinchas played and conducted Beethoven's violin concerto and the two combined orchestras played Beethoven's Fifth, conducted by Pinchas Zukerman. His musicianship is incredible (he barely looked at the score for the symphony), and he seems to be very humble. He seems almost shy when accepting the applause. I do feel the need to mention the nice gentlemen sitting beside me for the concert. Picture a Santa-looking fellow, with beard and all, dressed very casually in black pants and a grey sweatshirt. He was also wearing a Jamaica style beanie cap with a large button pinned on it that read "Hot Chicks Dig Obama." As the concert began I unfortunately also happened to notice this man's feet. He was wearing those Indian-looking flip-flop sandals that have the jewels all over them (definitely feminine-looking I might add) and his toe nails were painted turquoise! What's more, he's apparently an authority on Beethoven, or so he led me to believe with his few comments during intermission. I think I said something like, "Huh" when he dazzled us with his Beethoven trivia. He also kept grunting during the concert. I considered looking his way during the concerto to see if he was breathing okay, but decided against it. He made it through the whole thing, so I guess he was okay. All in all though, it was an absolutely wonderful evening and I'm so so glad that I got to go and that I was able to spend it with Ian. Good music is good for the soul!

A little side note, I finally bought myself a new violin case after years of complaining about my old one! Yea! It's so pretty and you can even turn it into a backpack if you want. I feel so cool, now I just need somewhere to go!

(Do you like the crooked pictures in the background? That's my idea of decorating.)